the way they treat fans...

I read today that u2 is expected to make some obscene amount of money on this tour...like $30-40 million a band member after the sponsors and ticket sales and the Apple bankroll is all tallied up. But yet u2.com costs $40 to join and they basically use the fact that you can buy presale tickets as the only reason to join. They say best tickets in the house are the cheapest at $50, but if you looked on ebay before the presale even started, 1500 listings were up at well over $500 a pair. Who has those tickets? Not fans. After that, it's a money game. $165 for lower level, $95 for upper level. You'd think that doing 3 shows per venue on 2 US legs plus netting $40 million a bandmember would reduce those ticket prices! I guess it doesn't matter because they sell out within 15 minutes of the public on sale. What do they care.

I saw them twice in Philly in 2001, 6 months apart...the show had 3 different songs from the first show.

They truly are a 'show' band...video, lights, rehearsed acts like a play...when will it just be about the music, the fans and not the money like it was back before the Joshua Tree made them a monster band?

All the dates they have announced isnt the whole American tour right? Its only like 15 shows, a fucking joke. They must be adding more, no?

yeah, they're doing a few major city shows and then hitting Europe for the summer for a few months. Then back to the US for a full scale tour in the winter.

They should also be adding additional dates in the cities already listed for the first US leg.

While I think Pearl Jam is a much better band, U2 is pretty damn awesome. PJ is better to see on multiple dates, because each time you get a different show, but U2 is so much tighter. As much as I like to hear the rare Faithful, or Smile by PJ, they typically sound like shit if it isn't a common song. Point being, U2 is like going to some prepped stage show, Pearl Jam is getting a raw unique experience each time. So if I could only afford 4 tickets to either band, I would see U2, once, and PJ 3 times, but I still think U2 is great.

I agree that U2 is a fantastic band, they've always been pioneers. It's just that lately they seem to be selling themselves more toward corporate america than to the average fan. But then there are small things like free shows in NY (although it was an Apple IPOD promo event) and playing 4 songs on SNL recently (4th song cut off by NBC, bastards).

I'm not complaining about the show or the experience of seeing them live...I think they are phenomenal live, just you can only see them once because the show is the same all the time. I'm more complaining about the fact that the average ticket price is around $100 a seat. For a band with so much money, you would think they would reduce that a little. I understand that their tour costs something like $100 million to even put on because it's so elaborate, but that will pay for itself just on the first US leg and tour sponsorship. I do like the GA floor though...i'll give them that one.

1995 tour.

eh? 1993 - ZooTV tour, 1997 - PopMart tour

I don't believe there was anything in 1995...

The only interesting thing about the upcomming U2 tour is the opening act... the Kings of Leon! One of the best bands on the planet at the moment. Both of their albums kick serious ass!!!
... but to come back to the topic of this trhead, $40 is real expensive for a fan club membership. And their ticket prices are astronomical. Just one more reason my PJ is the shiznit.
Doc

I'll have to check out Kings of Leon. But here's an update...the tour went on sale this morning at 10am. There was 1 philly show that was listed and I got in right away and tried to get tix. The clock still showed 10am and it was sold out already. Seconds later a 2nd date showed up for philly a week later. Got in, got General admission by way of a miracle. Tried to get another 2 tix for a buddy of mine since 2 tix was the limit for floor and that show was sold out. 2 shows gone in less than a minute.

Fuck U2.

Fuck ticketmaster and U2...so close to getting ticks a bunch of times for the shows in Boston.....seat numbers on my screen, ready to pay, all excited...
and then...
"error" and back to the home page
like 4 times i get this damn error message
fuckers.....
at least scalpers have tons to sell us...

I liked U2 up until the iPod commercial. Now they are just annoying.

U2 is a big touring act. Ticketmaster knows this, it's not U2. It's called thirdparty management. Pearl Jam's tickets would be this high if they didn't fight them and if they were still teen sensations. U2 is still the people's band to me.
U2 yes puts on a show. But on the Elevation Tour, I looked at their sets and they played some rarities, covers and random jams. It was great.
U2 is the biggest rock band in the world. literally.

I only saw them once during the Joshua Tree tour and it was a good show. I have the dvd of the Boston show from the last tour and I couldn't get into it. The huge video scree showing the actions of each band member was a tad bit over the top for me. I'll spend my concert money elsewhere.

well, i got tickets. in the fuckin 3rd section! but meh. what can you do? I got the same for Pearl Jam...I think the same exact section. Thank god i'm a 10c member now, hehe.


but anywhos....that Boston concert DVD was over the top, mainly because at the Denver show last time around, there wasnt those 4 screens, just a few 50 inches behind Larry with quotes and visuals and shit. Get the Slane Castle DVD....that is probably one of their best shows. oh man.

U2 has still done alot though that cannot be ignored. I agree, but when you compare PJ to any other band they are so......i cant even describe, they are so real I mean its hard for a kid to be the same after playing JV to Varsity let alone PJ seeing the success they have had and kept all of their values and never seem to forget where they were, you can watch MTV unpluged and a show from 2003 tour and nothing has changed, its an amazing thing. PJ i think thinks of themselves as people before musicians and thats where most bands lose it. PJ is so rare you cant even begin comparing them with other bands, its remarkable.

Right on.

I'm actually taking a few hours off work on Monday to see if I can get some tickets, but after reading all the threads on this, I'm losing hope Just makes one more and more grateful for Pearl Jam and how they do things....

I like U2 and agree that they are probably the biggest rock band ever. All of thier CD's are great works (especially Joshua Tree and Achtung Babay, alhtough i don't like the new CD as much as anything else). But yeah, there shows are almost identical.

But then again, NIN plays the exact same songs for every show...